Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG | ART Review

Sigma has been releasing one hit after another in 2025, and it feels like a full time job just to keep up with all the new lenses. This most recent tranche of lenses has a number of huge releases: the first 135mm full frame lens with an F1.4 aperture, a new version of the exotic 35mm F1.2 that is optically improved while also being 30% lighter and 20% shorter than the lens it replaces, and a full frame travel zoom in the form of the 20-200mm F3.5-6.3 Contemporary. The first of this trio that I’m reviewing is the Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG | ART, a magnificent bokeh monster that (according to Sigma) has a depth of field as shallow as the recent 200mm F2 | SPORT due to that extra-big maximum aperture. Is this going to be the new killer portrait lens from Sigma that will make them forget about the 105mm F1.4 ART from the DSLR era? Is this going to top last year’s Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8? If so, you’re going to have to pay for it, as while the MSPR of $1549 USD is comfortably in the range that Sigma would typically occupy for a lens like this (the Sony 135mm F1.8 GM is $2200 USD), the Viltrox can be had for $899 USD (or less). Is the Sigma worth an extra $700? Find out by reading this review or watching the video review linked below.

Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses. You can visit the product page for the Sigma 135mm F1.4 ART here.

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AI SUMMARY:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Sigma is reserving the new white finish for the high end SPORT lenses, so the 135 ART gets a more traditional black finish that resembles a number of other previous Sigma releases. It comes with the typically robust set of features we expected from modern Sigma ART lenses, but also advances the formula on the autofocus side, employing dual HLA (High Speed Linear Actuator) motors to ensure those big glass elements move nice and snappy. The end result was that I had no problem nabbing shots of birds in flight even shooting at F1.4:

The big deal here is that this is the world’s first 135mm full frame lens with a maximum aperture of F1.4. That dramatically increases the effective diameter of the light beam passing through the lens, which results in bigger, softer bokeh. According to Sigma, the effective diameter of their 105mm F1.4 and 135mm F1.8 ART lenses was 75mm, but the ART 135mm F1.4 swells that number to 96mm, or on par with the 200mm F2. The raw number may be hard to quantify, but here’s a visual comparison to help. I set up a tripod, some lights, and my Dad’s old SLR, and shot first with the Sigma from that position and then the top competition for optical performance – the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8. The Sigma frames a little tighter than the Viltrox from the same position (slightly longer focal length), which exaggerates the results a tiny bit, but you can see just how much bigger the specular highlights (bokeh balls) are from the Sigma at F1.4 and the LAB at F1.8:

That comparatively means that backgrounds are going to be more defocused with a 135mm F1.4 lens, allowing for even more of the “cut-out” look that 135mm lenses are so famous for.

Do you need more? Probably not, but our whole industry is fueled by the human craving for more. Let’s dive into what “more” looks like…

Build and Handling

Well, for one, “more” means bigger and heavier. The Viltrox LAB raised eyebrows over its bigger size and weight that matched its bigger performance, but moving to an F1.4 maximum aperture means that the ART 135 moves to a different form factor altogether. While the length is similar to a 135mm, the lens profile looks more like the 200mm F2 with that massive flare to the front element. If I face the lenses a certain way, the Sigma doesn’t look particularly big. The Viltrox is 145.7mm in length, making it longer than the Sigma’s 137.5mm (5.4″).

But if turn the lenses with the front elements facing the camera, the Viltrox suddenly looks tiny next to the Sigma.

The Viltrox is just 93mm in diameter, while the Sigma is a whopping 111.7mm (4.4″) in diameter, sporting a massive 105mm front filter threads rather than the much more common 82mm threads of the Viltrox. That is a LOT of glass facing back at you. The downside is that few photographers have a 105mm filter collection (I certainly don’t!), which might necessitate the need for at least an ND filter to accommodate flash sync speeds.

The ART 135 completely different lens profile than any other 135mm lens that I’ve seen before and looks more like the 105mm F1.4 ART from the DSLR era.

The lens is obviously big enough to necessitate a tripod collar. This is well executed in typical Sigma style. There is a tension knob that allows you to loosen the tripod collar section to rotate it. The tripod collar has to come near the lens mount to provide proper balance, as this isn’t a particularly long lens. Unlike the 200mm F2 SPORT, this collar is removable, allowing you to use the lens without it to save a bit of weight.

While I didn’t have the retail packaging with my loaner, I’m assuming that as per usual Sigma has included a rubber ring that can go over the exposed bolt section with the tripod collar removed. This gives the lens a bit more of a finished look.

The tripod foot has Arca-compatible grooves and rotates smoothly when the tension knob is released. There are no detents at the cardinal positions but just markings on both lens barrel and collar that need to be aligned if you want the cardinal positions. There isn’t a lot of room between the collar and lens barrel, which does make carrying the camera/lens by the collar less than comfortable.

Unsurprisingly, the ART 135 sets a new bar for weight in a 135mm lens. It weighs a whopping 1420g (50.4oz), which not only makes it 200g heavier than the hefty Viltrox LAB lens, but nearly 500g heavier than the Sony 135mm F1.8 GM. Using this for wedding photography will not be for the faint of heart or weak of arm.

Sigma has established a high bar for their feature set on their better lenses which rivals that provided by anyone. That starts with a robust approach to aperture control. There is a manual aperture ring where you have the option to use clicks, with one third stop detents, or to declick the aperture for smooth aperture racking. The Click/Declick switch is low down on the left side of the lens. There is also an “iris lock” switch that will allow you to either lock into or out of the manual aperture ring. This ensures that you won’t accidentally end up out of the manual aperture settings or into them if you prefer to control aperture from within the camera. The iris lock switch is found on the right side of the lens barrel and has no label attached to it.

With the aperture declicked I was able to successfully perform smooth aperture racks all throughout the aperture range for video.

The aperture iris has 13 blades, which helps maintain a nice circular shape when the lens is stopped down. Here is the iris at F8:

The iris allows for nice geometry as the lens is stopped down. Here’s a look at F1.4, then F2, then F2.8. You can see that at all apertures the lens keeps a more consistent circular shape than most lenses (the Nikon 135mm F1.8 Plena can definitely rival this, however).

The lens also includes an AF | MF switch along with two redundant Fn/Custom buttons, one on the top, and one on the left side near the AF | MF switch. This will allow one to be close to hand whether shooting in landscape or portrait orientations. As always, you assign the function of that button through the camera body.

There is one interesting omission here relative to the competition. There is no focus limiter switch, which I take as a vote of confidence in just how fast the autofocus system is in this lens.

The final element on the lens barrel is the manual focus ring, which isn’t as wide as you might expect in such a big lens. You can see from the photo above that the focus ring on the Viltrox is considerably wider. The abbreviated manual focus ring is because of the big flare on the Sigma to accommodate those big glass elements up front. The manual focus ring moves nicely, however, with nice damping.

Sigma has elected to not include OS (Optical Stabilization) in this lens, so you will have to rely on camera based stabilization along with that fast maximum aperture. That’s true for most competing lenses as well.

The ART 135mm cares Sigma’s dust- and splash-resistant structure, including a gasket at the lens mount, internal seals, and a special coating on the front element to resist fingerprints and moisture.

The lens hood is quite large and looks similar to the Sport series hoods that tend to lock on with a tension knob, though this is actually a bayonet style hood that rotates into place. There is a locking mechanism to keep it from inadvertently getting moved. It adds a significant amount of length to the lens when attached. When sat next to the lens it is about half the overall length of the lens itself.

As has been the unfortunate trend with 135mm lenses on mirrorless, there doesn’t seem to be any teleconverter compatibility. I noted that the rear element is fairly close to the mount, and I saw no mention of teleconverter compatibility even with the L-mount version in Sigma’s literature. I do regret this trend, as I actually found the Canon 135mm F2L’s teleconverter compatibility very useful in the DSLR era.

One area where some of the competing 135mm lenses have an advantage is when it comes to minimum focus distance and maximum magnification. The ART 135 can only focus as closely as 1.1m (110cm, or 3.61 ft), while the Viltrox can focus to a much closer 72cm distance. The Sony GM can focus to 70cm and the Samyang 135mm can focus even closer to 69cm. These lenses have a maximum magnification of 0.25x, but the Sigma is a much lower 0.144x, or a 1:6.9 ratio. Here’s what that looks like on my test chart:

You can see that the Viltrox’s level of real world magnification looks significantly higher, and the byproduct is stronger subject isolation as well.

The backgrounds look nicely out of focus despite the lower level of magnification due to that extra large maximum aperture.

Let’s conclude by looking at that price a little closer. The price tag of $1549 USD is higher than the 135mm F1.8 from Sigma that released in 2017 ($1399 USD), but the $150 increase isn’t bad considering that this new lens has the brighter maximum aperture, includes a tripod collar, and comes after the impact of both inflation and US tariffs. At the same time, it has to be acknowledged that there are some solid F1.8 alternatives available for considerably less.

Autofocus

Interestingly, this is the first lens that I’ve seen from Sigma that touts dual HLA focus motors. Ironic, considering that the HLA (High speed Linear Actuator) focus motor debuted on SPORT lenses, and we’ve seen multiple high profile SPORT lenses released in 2025. But there is no question that this is a very demanding application, and Sigma wanted to make this lens competitive with the very best (including the Sony GM, which focuses brilliantly). The HLA motor has much more torque/thrust than lenses equipped with the stepping motor, which is very important when you are talking about a lens with larger, heavier optical glass like this one. The increased thrust of the focus motor makes focus nice and speedy, able even to lock onto birds in flight at F1.4.

Each of these images is perfectly focused, and I shot about 150 frames in multiple bursts and didn’t see one out of focus.

I had no problem getting perfect focus on my mouthy cat as she pranced around.

Focus sound was essentially silent in my formal tests, with no sound other than my fingertip lifting on and off the shutter button. Focus speed is near instant, which is really impressive for such a lens. We have gotten spoiled for focus speed and sometimes forget just how amazing this kind of focus speed is. If you go back and use similar DSLR-era lenses it can be quite surprising how primitive focus feels. I would still give a slight edge in overall focus speed to both the Viltrox (dual HyperVCM focus motors) and the Sony GM (quad!! XD linear motors), though the difference is fractions of a second.

If your 135mm plans include sport shooting, I would rank the Sony GM lens higher and even the Viltrox LAB slightly better. I found when shooting bursts of Ferrari running towards the camera that sometimes focus would drift to backfocus and then try to compensate and sometimes swing too far forward to a tiny bit of frontfocus. Here’s a sampling that shows the highlights of a typical pattern. I saw about 60% properly focused (at F1.4), but that leaves roughly 40% being slightly or completely out of focus.

But the sweet spot for the ART 135 is portrait work and wedding photography, not sports or wildlife. Portrait work was effortless in a variety of conditions, including backlit or layered situations.

This is a gorgeous portrait lens! And focus is accurate, too, even with layers in the way. Here’s a look at an F1.8 shot with plenty of plant layers before the subject.

Focus is perfect:

On consideration about F1.4 at 135mm. F1.4 is really, really shallow if you are at close to medium distances. I’ve created deep crops from a roughly 3 meter distance shot. At F1.4 so little is in focus to look perhaps a bit odd.

Autofocus for stills was generally excellent. I regret Sony’s continued unnecessary limitation of burst speed to 15FPS (with continuous autofocus) with third party lenses, but that’s not Sigma’s fault.

Video AF

I also saw mostly good results for video work. Autofocus pulls were fast for a longer focal length, though there is a quick pulse when focus arrives at the destination and adjusts final focus lock.

Focus breathing is pretty obvious if you make larger focus changes. This is not a particular strength for this lens.

My hand test (where I alternately block the camera’s view of my face with my hand and then remove it to allow focus to move to my face) went fairly well, with confident transitions back and forth. There still was a little focus settling, however, so I wouldn’t mind seeing a firmware update in the future to tweak that behavior a bit.

Focus was stable when I shot a video clip during a portrait session and had my model move through a variety of poses. Here’s a freeze frame from that clip:

This could be a gorgeous video lens for those wanting either tight framing shots of people speaking or environmental shots where you really want separation sharp separation of your subjects from the backgrounds.

Sigma has done a solid job on the autofocus here.

Image Quality Breakdown

Lenses like this are by necessity fairly complex. This is an extreme aperture/focal length combination, so the optical design is 17 elements in 13 groups. There are 4 FLD elements and 2 ASPH elements as a part of the design. You can that those front elements are very large. The MTF chart is interesting as sharpness actually peaks near the mid frame before slowing dropping to the corners. Sigma chose to benchmark the GM lens in their comparison.

The optical class leader here is actually the Viltrox, however, and it is a bit sharper in the center though the Sigma should prove stronger in the corners. We’ll take a look at a few comparisons in our review.

Bottom line, however is that sharpness and contrast are excellent even at F1.4:

Let’s take a look at vignette and distortion.

There’s a surprising amount of pincushion distortion here. The Viltrox has none, so I’m a little surprised to see the pincushion distortion this strong here. It isn’t quite as bad as the 85mm F1.4 DN ART, but it is bad enough. It corrects in a linear fashion, however, and I could correct it with a -6 dialed in as you see above. Vignette is surprisingly not an issue, however, requiring only a touch (+27) in the corners to perfect them. That huge front element is doing its job there.

Sigma has thorough profile support on both Sony and L-mount, so these are not any kind of real world issue.

Testing for longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LoCA) shows only a tiny amount of fringing before the plane of focus.

I show a fallen pine that I often shoot because it really exaggerates fringing. The ART 135 handles it well, however.

I also saw zero issues with LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations), which shows up along the edges of the frame. All of the transitions here are very neutral.

This is a high-end optical instrument, and they’ve (mostly) corrected the issues in the optics rather than through software (other than the distortion).

So how about resolution and contrast? My formal tests are done on the 61MP Sony a7RV.

The MTF suggests that this is a very sharp lens all across the frame even at F1.4. Is that what we see? Here’s a look at the test chart from which the crops come.

Here are crops from across the frame at F1.4 and shown at a 200% magnification.

Interestingly we can see what the MTF suggested, with the midframe actually showing more sharpness and contrast than the center. That’s a great profile for a portrait lens, as most compositions will actually be in the rule of thirds zone rather than dead center.

Centering was excellent, with good results in all four corners.

If I compare to the Viltrox (with both lenses at F1.8), the Sigma makes a good showing, with a close performance across the frame (though the Viltrox takes the slightest edge). I’m not sure you could pick up on the difference at lower levels of magnification.

Before moving on, however, I want to put that in perspective, as the Viltrox is one of the sharpest lenses I’ve ever tested. The fact that Sigma has engineered a lens with a brighter maximum aperture at 135mm than we’ve ever seen. When I did a number of comparison portraits, I saw very little difference in performance even with both lenses side by side.

Stopping down to F2.8 shows exceptional results all across the frame, up to and including the corners.

At its best, the Sigma combines sharpness, contrast, and beautiful bokeh…even at F1.4.

My gut impression was that images didn’t have quite as much “bite’ to them as from the Viltrox, and that proved true in my tests. I shot a number of side by side images of 3-dimensional subjects and found that the LAB lens did have a little more microcontrast, with textures really popping.

By F2.8 it feels like the Sigma has caught up.

At smaller apertures depth of field will increase a bit, and you get more in focus for landscape work. Detail and contrast is excellent, as you might expect.

Diffraction will start to take a bite out of contrast by F11, but more noticeably by the minimum aperture of F16.

I’m not sure that buying this lens purely for sharpness is worth it, as while it is excellent, it isn’t sharper in an absolute sense than the best 135mm lenses on the platform. No, the main reason to buy the ART 135mm F1.4 is to get F1.4 at 135mm along with the uniquely shallow depth of field you can achieve. Even these narrow dried grasses stand out in stark relief from the field of them beyond.

Or how about this, where the other stalks just right beyond this “wheat” (not actually wheat) melt away into artwork.

But where I’m really impressed is not when I’m right on top of the subject, but back a ways, as I can still get the shallow depth of field look I might only get with a lesser lens if I were right on top of the subject.

There is a wonderful 3-dimensional quality to medium distance shots.

The flare resistance is solid, with relatively little veiling (lost of contrast) and ghosting (blobs of color).

The final F1.4 shot shows a bit of a warm glow from the sun, but I feel like that’s a very artistic effect.

One final application for this lens will be those interested in deep field astrophotography. The challenge for longer focal lengths is that motion blur from the earth’s rotation shows up really fast, so having such a large maximum aperture is very useful. In this shot, for example, I could shoot just a 2 second exposure but keep the ISO at 1600 due to the F1.4 aperture. The results are excellent, with very crisp star points all across the frame and very little evidence of coma even near the edges.

This is a very good option for those looking for a longer focal length to point at the night sky.

The optical performance is definitely fantastic. Here’s a mini gallery of extra images for you to enjoy.

Conclusion

The Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG | ART is another groundbreaking lens from Sigma. In many ways it reminds me of the first Sigma 85mm F1.4 ART, a lens that pushed the optical boundaries for the class but at the cost of size and weight. I have found that there are clear segments in the photography market. There are those for whom size and weight is a critical factor, and others who want maximum performance at all costs. The 135 ART is clearly a lens for the latter crowd.

This is a portrait lens that will give you the shallowest depth of field at portrait distances that you are going to find, though there is one area where I think the 105mm F1.4 still has an advantage – versatility. The knock of the Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG | ART is the same knock that all 135mm lenses have…the focal length is long enough to be somewhat inflexible. I have owned some of the best 135mm lenses, from the Canon 135mm F2L to the Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2 to the Sony G-Master and Viltrox LAB 135mm lenses. I bought them because I loved the optical performance, but I’ve had regret with each lens because it deserved to be used more than often than I actually used it. I find I am far more likely to reach for a fast 50mm or 85mm prime because of the versatility of the focal length even though I might prefer the images out of the 135mm lens. Studio photographers will almost invariably find 135mm too long for their work, and, as someone who has used 135mm lenses in weddings, I found that I was more likely to reach for a 70-200mm zoom in that setting because of the added versatility. The best application for the Sigma 135mm F1.4 is an environmental portrait photographer. This is the perfect tool for getting dramatic full length portraits with intense subject isolation.

That means, practically, that this is probably more of a niche lens…but what a fun one! If you’ve got some strong arms and shoulders, this is the kind of lens that could produce some of your favorite shots in your catalog. And, what’s more, while it isn’t a cheap lens, it undercuts your typical first party 135mm prime for a good margin. If you have been awaiting the mirrorless equivalent of either the 105mm F1.4 ART or the 135mm F1.8 ART, the new Sigma 135mm F1.4 DG | ART is the spiritual successor to them both, raising the bar for what is possible at this focal length. Enjoy!

Pros:

The first F1.4 lens at 135mm
Beautifully made
Feature rich
Thorough weather sealing
Dual HLA focus motors provide quick, quiet focus
Extremely sharp lens over the whole frame
Good flare resistance
Low vignette
Near perfect control of aberrations
Beautiful colors
Lovely bokeh
Great subject isolation
Cheaper than first party 135mm lenses

Cons:

Bigger and heavier than all competitors
105mm filter threads may require buying new filters
Viltrox LAB is sharper and cheaper
No teleconverter support
Burst rate will be limited on Sony

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